Ironies
by wheresmybook
Summary: It wasn't fair. Through dangers unknown and hardships unnumbered, she had fought the Goblin King for posession of the Child. But now...
1. Chapter 1

Ironic

By wheresmybook

Anyone curious as to the fate of My World Ends will find an A/N on my profile.

Disclaimer: I do not own Labyrinth, nor do I profit from writing this. Sadly, I also can not claim affection for the movie until recently, my humble apologies to everyone.

* * *

Sarah clutched Toby tight as she ran down the street, it was raining again, and her mind played tricks on her as she pushed her weary body forward, skidding through puddles, but not wallowing herself to fall on the Child in her arms. Flickers of mirages passed in the corners of her eyes, her old shaggy sheepdog running beside her as he had years ago, in a different downpour, a different direction. Armored Goblins, clanking and swearing with equal frequency as they chased her through their City.

Toby was silent, his small soft face buried in her neck and hair, chilled by the rain, but not complaining, her special little brother.

Sarah had wondered, that first year, how much he remembered of that night, those strange and magic thirteen hours, but the wound was too raw, the guilt too fresh, and Toby too young to really talk to. But the Child had gotten older, and he seemed normal enough, though sometimes he would coo strange music to himself, a look of fierce concentration in his blue eyes. He looked under the bed for friends that were never there, and then at last he asked Sarah, where was the missing hour on the clock? And why had the singing man gone away?

The girl had to tell him; she couldn't let him go on wondering, or forgetting, if he could learn from her mistakes, so much the better. So she told him the story, again and again, reiterating careful advice, fairies bite, promises are to be kept, be polite to strangers, nothing is what it seems, beware of fey food and don't wish.

Toby listened and sometimes he told her of his own few, confused impressions of that time, comically gruesome creatures that lounged around a gigantic throne. A tall man who sang to him and threw him up into the air, laughing. The first time the story was told, Sarah could hardly look her baby brother in the eyes as she begged his forgiveness for wishing him away. Toby smiled his baby-tooth smile and wrapped his arms around her neck in a hug. She had wished him away, but she had taken him back again. Sarah had won Toby back from the Goblin King, but now…

The young woman heaved in a ragged breath, forcing her legs to stretch a bit farther, her body to move a bit faster. Her family was dead, killed in a freak accident. She had always thought that was a strange term, 'freak' accident, but now she understood. It was an act of senseless violence for which revenge could not be taken, and only hollow regret remained. Social Services wanted to take Toby from her, they were concerned, they said, about the effect that living with her might have on his development.

They didn't understand, no one did, that she was probably the only person that he could grow up with and develop normally. She had rescued him from being a Goblin, true, but at the last minute, and his time spent in the Labyrinth had changed him, just as surely as the time she spent there had changed her. The siblings had been brushed by magic, and would never be completely normal. There were days when Sarah was more heroine than college student, and Toby was more Goblin than little boy. Their parents had never understood them during these times, and all they could cling to was each other, their memories, the knowledge that what had happened had, in fact, happened, and they weren't alone in the remembering.

Sarah ran on, worn sneakers thudding on the hard road beneath her feet and sending up sprays of droplets in monochromatic rainbows. She moved on through the old neighborhood, cutting across slick and slippery wet grass, slowing with a stumble to a walk as she did so.

It was useless to come here, to the park, which only offered lonely and selfish memories of a child who thought she knew so much. But she had come here all her life, when she was upset, when she was afraid, when she felt mistreated. Toby shifted in her arms, looking around with a solemn gaze. He was so mature for his age, he understood so much that he shouldn't be able to.

"Sarah?" he questioned in a tremulous voice, his blue eyes large in his pale face.

"I'm here, Toby," his sister soothed, still trying to catch her breath, the Child in her arms wiggled a little and she gingerly set him down, staying crouched to keep at eye level with him.

"They want to take me away," he mumbled, looking sad and scared,

"Its okay, we'll find a place to hide, we'll get away," Sarah promised, moving a wet strand of hair from away from her eyes.

"I don't want to go away," Toby insisted, his voice rising in panic, "I don't want to go with them!"

"We won't let that happen," his sister insisted in her turn, quiet desperation rising in her, and fighting to keep in under control. If Toby saw how lost and scared she was, it would only frighten him more, "I gave you up once but I'm not doing it again. Not to the Goblin King, not to anyone else." She didn't say his name, she never said his name. If her younger, more foolish self, had known his name at the beginning of her adventure she was sure that she would have used it, denying him even the respect of his title. The thought made her shiver- she couldn't imagine him taking that well. Sarah had played with fire all the time in the Labyrinth, but now she had no desire to get burned.

"He wasn't bad," Toby insisted, falling back into familiar ground, an argument they'd already had. Jareth had been good to her baby brother, had played with him and coddled him and sang his strange songs in the Child's ear. Toby didn't fear Jareth, even when Sarah told him the story, he didn't fear him, he didn't hate him. Somehow Sarah knew that Toby would never hate or fear the Goblin King, and could probably never see him as an enemy.

She smiled at Toby, feeling unsettled, acting, lying to him, "It'll be okay," she insisted again, the words hollow in her mind, "I'll take care of you." It was a lie and she knew it. She couldn't take care of Toby, and they couldn't really run or hide. There was nowhere to go, and no money for a girl who had barely started college. With a pang she thought of Hoggle, Ludo and Sir Didymus, if ever she'd needed their help it was now.

They had stopped appearing just three months after that night, Hoggle coming halfway through her mirror and brusquely telling her that they weren't going to be able to see each other any more. There was scarcely time to say goodbye and they had never appeared again. The Goblin King had returned to his full strength after their duel of wills, and while he had no power over her, he could still close off her friends from visiting.

"No, you can't." Toby said with quietly unnerving certainty, "But you'd try. So I'm going to help." With great solemnity Toby put his small hands around hers, "I wish the Goblins would take us away right now."

Sarah fell back off her heels in sudden shock, breath leaving her body in a frightened moan. Oh no, not again, not now, no. But, yes.

"'Us', young Toby? To whom are you referring?"

Sarah shut her eyes, burying her face in her arms as she drew up her knees to her chest. She didn't want to see him, she didn't want to see him, she couldn't see him now, scared out of her wits, wet and lonely.

"Me 'n' Sarah. Both of us." Came Toby's voice, carefully stating exactly what he was wishing for, as his sister had taught him.

"And will anyone attempt the Labyrinth to win you back?" his voice was amused, and though Sarah knew he wasn't talking to her she flinched away from the words.

"There isn't anyone. Mom 'n' dad died," Toby answered, trying to hold onto his seriousness as he sniffed back the tears that threatened to spill. Sarah winced; Toby woke up during the night screaming for his parents, and probably would for a long time to come. Her own grief was forcibly confined to nightmares and a constant ache in her heart. It wasn't healthy, but she had to take care of Toby.

With a morbid curiosity she wondered what would happen to her living under Jareth's rule, he might refuse to take her at all, leaving her in this world to be questioned about the disappearance of her baby brother, the authorities would probably suspect that she had gone mad and killed him. Or, he could throw her into an oubliette, Hoggle had said there were many, he would throw her in one of the many, a different one, where she couldn't find the door, and could be conveniently forgotten.

With a suddenness that made here stomach lurch the world fell down, the rain stopped and she landed hard on her back, staring up at a faded blue sky. She was back outside the Labyrinth in the strange wasteland that bordered the stone entrance. Except for the dry rustling of the wind, all was silent. Sarah pushed herself to a crumpled sitting position, shivering in her wet clothes, there was no one in sight, she was alone.

"Toby?" she called, almost afraid of her own voice, the empty land swallowed any hint of an echo. Sarah shoved herself to her feet, scanning the horizon, "Toby!" he wasn't there, thought she could see the sprawling Labyrinth in the distance, once it had seemed to beckon Sarah, promising danger and adventure. Now it mocked her, _Where are the words that set the clock back? _It sniggered; _Something given away itself has no power. Where is your will now, little girl? What kingdom do you boast of? I am the Labyrinth, and I still stand here, despite all you have done._

"Welcome back Sarah," came the smooth cultured voice to her left and the girl turned quickly to face him. The Goblin King seemed to lounge against the very air, utterly relaxed, completely in control; his mismatched eyes gleamed with an almost feline satisfaction. It was patently obvious that this Jareth was not the same King that she had bested. Gone were the ridiculous tights and the rock-star glam. He looked younger, but older too, the lines around his mouth weren't as dramatically deep as they had been, but his eyes blazed out, feral and ancient.

Sarah swallowed, quite certain that her fifteen year old self could never have bested this Jareth, and feeling rather pathetic herself. In five years, he had obviously become far more powerful, the world at his feet, the power to move the stars if he chose in his hand. She had lost everything, had been given away for the thought of safety and stood uncomfortable and cold in old blue jeans and a ratty shirt.

"Where's Toby?" she asked, her mind shooting back to this same scene, this same time, but her voice sounding weak and tired even to her. _Stand up!_ Her mind railed against her, _don't sound beaten before he's even done anything!_

Jareth laughed, a sharp puncture of the air around him, displaying teeth a little more pointed than she remembered. "Come come Sarah, we've already played this game." With wicked humor he pointed theatrically to the Labyrinth in the distance, "The Child is there, in my Palace above the Goblin City, beyond the Labyrinth."

"We have played this game before," Sarah answered, fighting to call up confidence and lace it into her voice, "and I beat you. If I'm given a chance I'll beat you again."

"But there's nothing that says I have to give you a chance this go around."

"That's-" Sarah cut herself off, anger warming her blood.

"Not fair?" the Goblin King finished anyway, looking fractionally less amused now.

"What's going to happen to Toby?"

Jareth quirked one of his winged eyebrows, "He's in my palace, eventually, I suppose, he might become a Goblin. But you are in no position to do anything about it."

"Will he be alright?" Sarah pressed, "Will he be taken care of?"

"I take care of all children who wish themselves into my care." Jareth answered, his mismatched eyes no longer humorous.

Sarah took a deep breath, "What will happen to me?"

"I'm afraid you caused rather a lot of damage on your last trip here," he was amused again, "I believe it's time that you set it to rights."

A/N- So here I am with another story that really ought to be continued, and might actually make it. A month or two ago I realized that although I was reading Labyrinth fanfiction I hadn't seen the movie in about six years, and had, in fact hated it. So I went back and watched it again. Rest assured, I am a stalwart fan now. This spawned from a sort of funny thought I had a while ago, what if Sarah went to all the trouble of beating the Goblins and winning back Toby, and ordinary humans wound up taking him away?


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer-

Sarah: She has no power over me.

wmb: not true. I just have no legal power over her.

A/N- Thanks for all the reviews! You sure know how to make a girl feel loved! This is how this fic will work on updates, if I feel inspired or work really hard I'll probably have something up on Mondays. I can't promise anything, but if there is an update, that's probably when it'll be.

Sarah bristled, feeling irrational anger rising just below the surface; he was treating her like a child who had thrown a tantrum. She was _not_ a child anymore!

"Your first task lies that way. I'd hurry before the wind changes and brings them your scent."

The young woman opened her mouth for a scathing reply her brain hadn't quite finished thinking through yet, but as before, he had vanished, leaving the Labyrinth sprawled before her mockingly. The wind dropped away and the girl frowned, there was a strange hum to the air that she was sure hadn't been there before. With no small hesitation she set off, picking her way down the dirt slope bordered by scrubby grass and withering pillars.

Before long the goldfish pond came into sight, and beyond that… Sarah made a strangled noise in the back of her throat, eyes round with plain dumb shock.

The entire entrance of the Labyrinth was obscured by a glittering, rustling, tinkling iridescent white cloud. Sarah remained rooted where she had stopped for a moment, perplexed. What on Earth…? The young woman peered closer into the shimmering cloud, squinting. It looked like… abruptly she became aware of the smallest of breezes just beginning to brush her forward. Oh. Crap.

Frantic green eyes scanned the environment, lighting on the peculiar sprayer next tot the goldfish pond, looking sad with neglect. With a mad scramble she slid the rest of the way down the rocky incline, sending gravel and small stones cascading downward in her rush to grab the object. Whether the noise or her scent had alerted them, the fairies now knew that she was here.

The hum changed in pitch as gossamer wings beat faster, reminding Sarah fiercely of the drone made by a swarm of killer bees. Her hand closed around the device, cradling it to her chest in both hands she probed frantically at it, praying that it still worked. She pushed a little on the handle and something shot out the other end.

Grimly Sarah raised her feeble weapon to the mass of fairies before her, firing off six shots in rapid succession, at that range, and with so many targets it was impossible to miss, however it was also impossible to stop the swarm. The fairies surged forward over the bodies of their injured, several colliding mid-flight with one that had been hit and plunging earthward together. Mind lost in a blazing panic Sarah pumped the handle as the glittering swarm enclosed her, blinding her with their incandescent wings. She could feel the sudden weight of innumerable bodies landing on her, pulling her hair, shrieking in her ear, sinking their small teeth into her unprotected hands and face. Sarah spun around, hair following in a dark arc and sending small bodies hurtling away with cries of dismay. Her arm muscles began to burn but she didn't dare stop shooting, she could only hope that she wouldn't run out of whatever substance was dropping her diminutive attackers.

Time became foggy, it seemed to Sarah as though she had been fighting forever, as though she had been born with this weapon in her hands, her arms pumping at it all her life, locked in a never-ending cycle of destroying an innumerable stream of fairies. Grimly she recalled how she had always hated shooter video games.

Video games in general, actually- the puzzle ones were too easy, the fantasy ones too familiar.

Abruptly she realized that she was standing, a human island in a sea of silvery white, still shooting blankly at nothing at all. With a shuddering gasp that wanted to be a sob she fell to her knees, shaking and wincing at the red marks peppering her arms and the prickly sensations on her scalp.

"What… the hell?"

* * *

Jareth reached up and spun the crystal perched on his index finger, causing it to whirl even faster. Within the bauble Sarah's face reflected shock, either at the carnage she had caused or the need to cause it at all. An easy smile, tinged with equal parts relief and mischief, played around the Goblin King's mouth, and there was a lightness in his step that caused the watching goblins to scurry a little further, a little faster, into the shadows. He was only ever this happy when playing a game.

A small throat was cleared in the space in front of him and Jareth came to a slightly unpracticed stop. Generally, his subjects got out of the way when he was stalking the halls. His mismatched eyes flicked down to see a stubborn boy in his path, arms crossed and lip extended in a pout. With a quick flick of Jareth's fingers the crystal launched upward to be caught smoothly in a gloved hand and disappear.

Toby watched this casual magic with wide eyes, his purpose faltering for a moment, but he drew himself together again, standing up as tall as his height allowed.

"Where's my sister?"

"Heading in what is more or less this direction."

Toby's lower lip jutted out further in displeasure at being sidestepped; children knew brush-offs when they heard them. His blue eyes shone with a familiar stubbornness, reminding the Goblin King irresistibly of a girl, frightened but refusing to take his gift of dreams, and again, summoning up the sheer rebelliousness to taunt him. Not a wise thing to do to the one holding all the cards. Or crystals.

But in the present there was a young boy glaring mightily up at him, obviously ignorant of one of the (many) rules of the Labyrinth; to only answer that which you are asked.

"Will she get here though?" he inquired suspiciously. Jareth eyed the youngster thoughtfully,

"That remains to be seen. But Sarah has a wonderful history of ignoring the obvious."

* * *

"Things are not always what they seem in this place," Sarah muttered nostalgically, pushing unsteadily back to her feet, "so why the hell do I feel like I just fought a bunch of airborne piranhas?" A lovely, steady throb of anger was beating quietly in her chest, warming her and driving her forward. More motivation than she'd felt in five years. With a grimace of supreme distaste she began picking her way through the sea of fairies toward the door of the Labyrinth, wincing as her foot sometimes crushed a tiny arm or leg.

As before, the door swung open ponderously, beckoning her with sinister glee.

"Don't tell me I have to do the whole thing over again?! That's so-" Sarah cut herself off, but it wasn't fair. Maybe she had messed up a couple things in the Labyrinth a little- not even enough to notice, surely- but it wasn't as though she was attempting the thirteen hour trial again! Cursing steadily to herself she set off to the right, the path that looked harder, the reason that she had chosen it the last time, heavily littered with tree detritus and grass which made footing tricky- but there was no promise that there wasn't something worse in the opposite direction.

Some time later she paused, looking around and regulating her slightly picked up breathing. Her stomach gurgled with quiet menace and she pressed a hand to it with a face. She hadn't eaten before she'd snatched Toby and run. There hadn't been any method or plan there, just blind luck. Somehow Sarah sincerely doubted that even if she was given any food (another doubt) that she would eat it. Sternly she told herself that she had no interest in losing herself in a dreamworld again.

"Well, what're you stoppin' over here for! Clutterin' up our view is what you are! Such as 'tis, luvrly patch o' mouldy brick 'n weeds! But that lay'bout 'usband o' mine won't move 'is lazy lit'le tail, no sir. Damp lit'le 'ole's been in 'is sorry lit'le worm fam'ly for sixteen gen'rations, old, damp, dank, and no view 'tall! Why carn't we move I arsks, closer to that there Goblin City maybe? There's a lurverly orchard roundabouts there, luverly sweet fruit, none o' this slimy mold! My cousin lives o'er there, asked to set us up dozens o' times! Go on then, 'sright! Youngsters alus slink off while their elders 'n betters is talkin'! Go off then, get lost good 'n proper now!"

With a wince Sarah ducked around the corner, trying to block out the still-ranting voice of the dowdy gray-green worm that had been on the wall.

"Come inside and meet the missus?" she snorted softly to herself, "thank you, NO."

A/N- Thus ends chappie two, I forgot to mention above, I can't guarantee length either. As a sort of unhappy note, I would very much like for this to somehow evolve into a Jareth/Sarah fic. Unfortunately, I am still unsure of how to write romance properly, so, you have been warned. I hope you enjoyed it.


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